SPIS TREŚCI / CONTENTS / ОГЛАВЛЕНИЕ

Consolidation of the political system as a source of Russian political behavior in the international environment

The contemporary Russian Federation is undergoing a process of democratic regression and a return to the socio-political authoritarianism, traditional to the Russian political system. The detachment of decision-making processes from the will of the citizens means that elites follow their own logic of action while remaining outside democratic control. Thus, all decisions are taken in the interests of the elites, most of whom come from the secret services and the military. The consolidation of the political regime, the regression of democracy in Russian conditions, promotes a return to great power thinking and thus encourages aggressive behaviour. In the article, the author points out that the aggression against Ukraine, undertaken in January 2022, was preceded by a long-term process of consolidation of the political system and elimination from its structure of any check and balance mechanisms allowing democratic control over political decision-making processes.

Assumptions of Law and Justice’s foreign policy towards Russia in the 2019 election program

This article presents the main assumptions and attributes of the Law and Justice (PiS) policy towards Russia, included in the party’s 2019 election program – “Poland – a model of the welfare state”. The article aims to answer the following questions: What policy assumptions towards Russia were presented by Law and Justice in its 2019 election program? What elements does PiS’s policy towards this state consist of? What are the features of this policy? What are the reasons for the approach and policy of PiS towards the Russian Federation? the 2019 PiS election program or subject to a qualitative analysis is the source and starting material for showing the main goals, elements and features of PiS’s foreign policy towards Russia.

The subject of the article is the importance of the United States in Poland’s military security policy in relation to the war in Ukraine. The article begins with an introduction discussing its main assumptions and a synthetic historical background of the importance of the US for Poland and its security. The main part of the article is divided into two parts, the first one discussing the importance of the US in Poland’s military security policy after the Cold War. The second part is devoted to the change in the importance of the US in this policy in connection with the outbreak of the war in Ukraine and the main factors that determine this change. The aim of the article is to identify and analyze the changes in the importance of the United States in the Polish military security policy as a result of the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in 2022. The main research problem is whether the importance of the US in Poland’s military security policy increased as a result of the war, and if so, because of what main factors? The thesis of the article states that the war in Ukraine increased the importance of the US as the main external guarantor of Poland’s security and defense. This is due to the leading role played by the United States in military support for Ukraine and strengthening NATO’s eastern flank, including Poland, in the absence of leadership from Western European powers. The research included interviews with scientists and analysts from research centers in Washington and New York.

Institutions of international protection for foreigners in Poland – political and legal solutions

Forced migration is a phenomenon affecting various parts of the world. Throughout history, people have been forced to leave their own country due to wars, conflicts, persecution and poverty in search of safety and livelihood. The events of recent years that Poland has been experiencing (including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Poland-Belarus border crisis, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the earlier migration crisis of 2015/2016) have led to changes in the pattern of migration, migration policy, as well as law in this regard. Poland is becoming a destination for an increasing number of refugees. Crises have put to the test Poland’s current migration and refugee policy. It has become apparent that the existing institutional and legal solutions are insufficient. In addition, it is not easy to cooperate and present a united front on the European Union forum in the face of potential threats resulting from successive migration waves. The purpose of this article is to present the institutions dealing with international protection of foreigners in Poland, describe their scope of competence, as well as discuss the need for new solutions. An aspect of particular importance is the ability to correctly identify a given situation and needs in order to grant (or refuse) a specific form of protection accordingly. 

Immigration and the internal security of the state

This article deals with the impact of immigration on the multifaceted internal security of Poland. The considerations are based on the assumption that immigration is an inevitable phenomenon, and the future will bring its increase, also in relation to our country. This will result in the growth of various types of conflicts – from economic, through cultural and religious to political. Some of these conflicts are exaggerated, others can be resolved by appropriate political decisions. Importantly, the increase in immigrants in Poland does not translate into the state of public security. Foreigners do not pose a significant threat to this security, but this situation may change. It is necessary to prepare services responsible for security for such an eventuality, to ensure their interoperability and effectiveness of operation.

Turkey’s energy security

Türkiye is dependent on imports of energy resources from abroad, but its current economic strategy is based on the diversification of supply sources, which will make it less susceptible to possible manipulation by suppliers. The government’s energy policy focuses on increasing the share of renewable energy resources and domestic energy. Despite the ongoing armed conflict in Ukraine, Türkiye has not given up on energy cooperation with Russia, trying to balance between East and West. The main reason was the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced Ankara to intensify economic and energy contacts with Moscow again. The aim of the article is to present the challenges that Türkiye is currently facing in the sphere of energy security. The authors of the article will try to answer the following research questions: What is the primary objective of Ankara’s economic strategy? Does Türkiye have alternatives to energy cooperation with Russia? The role of Ankara in the NATO Alliance is crucial as well as its position in the international arena. For this reason the research on Türkiye must be carried out.

How Outrage Can be Quantified in Risk Assessment

In the article the problem how an emotional state influences quantitative risk profile is discussed. Risk as a concept enhances two equivalent dimensions. The first dimension relates to experts’ risk assessment. The second one is related to public risk perception, named outrage. One can understand outrage as the emotional state concerning risk. Five different degrees of hazardous situations are described and public emotional attitude towards them is analyzed by structured interview. A correlation between the emotional attitude and readiness to act is calculated to describe amplification of risk by the emotional state. Then a risk profile is constructed.

The article seeks to analyze political and social separatisms in contemporary Estonia and to outline integration processes in the country. The Russian national minority has been a factor that has significantly influenced the existing divisions in the interior of the country since the creation of the independent and sovereign Estonian state. Despite the passage of more than 30 years after regaining its independence, Estonia is still struggling with internal separatist mechanisms, whilst strongly developed and strengthened integration processes have significantly influenced its social consolidation. Changes in Estonian society are apparent, the sense of Estonian identity keeps strengthening and representatives of national minorities, primarily the Russian one, have increasingly improved their linguistic competence in Estonian. On the other hand, it is extremely difficult to build Estonian statehood, subjectivity and identity in the shadow of the difficult relations with the Russian Federation.

Aporias of sustainable development

The article considers the aporias underlying the idea of sustainable development and the 2030 Agenda. The reports made for the Agenda show, on the one hand, that in recent years the number of people living in extreme poverty has significantly decreased, on the other hand, it turns out that the goals of sustainable development are implemented are faster and more effective in developed countries. In other words, we observe that despite the relative improvement in living conditions in the poorest countries of the global South, most of the profits still go to the wealthiest countries of the North, which get richer at the expense of the poor. The author concludes that the aporetic nature of the 2030 Agenda has been unintentionally expressed already in the preamble, where the idea of sustainable development is compared to modern Esperanto, thanks to which the activities of governments and business are to be integrated under the aegis of the United Nations, and notes that the vast majority of vocabulary in Esperanto comes from languages Western European, and the language is always governed by a specific axiology and social structure – it turns out that it is easier for Western countries to find the semantic, syntactic and, above all, pragmatic reality assumed in the Agenda.

Consolidation of the political system as a source of Russian political behavior in the international environment

The main purpose of this article is to recall and analyze from a political-legal point of view not only the little-known wartime history of the Polish Orthodox Church, but also attempts to bring order to the chaos that reigned in the Polish Orthodox Church after the end of World War II. This issue is most often taken up in intellectual circles associated with the Orthodox Church, or - less often - by experts in religious policy. The study presented here is an attempt to supplement this body of work with an own view of the policy of the authorities of the People’s Republic of Poland towards the Orthodox Church, carried out in 1944-1958, which was seriously influenced not only by ideological and legal decisions, characteristic of the period of building revolutionary political changes, but also by long unresolved nationality issues.

The European Union’s Economic Development Strategy and Cooperation with the Countries of Central Asia

The purpose of this study is to analyse the European Union (EU) economic and development cooperation in Central Asia. EU’s economic support to Central Asian countries strengthens its position in this region. Central Asia is a key strategic area for cooperation and the EU seems to have deeper engagement. Moreover, this research highlights the EU’s strategic gear up with Central Asian countries from 2007 to till now. Since the EU launched the Central Asia Strategy in 2007, the objective of this policy is to provide development assistance and establish diplomatic channels in the region. The following research questions rely on, why is Central Asia important to the EU and how does it shape relations with Central Asian countries? And this study relies on qualitative analysis that will be used in this research which addresses the main research problems. Further, the study uses the empirical approach to justify answers to the questions and identify the research outcomes.

Persecution of the uighur people in the light of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide – a contribution to the discussion

The scientific aim of the article is to answer the following research question: did the People’s Republic of China commit the genocide in the Uighurs in the light of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of December 9, 1948? The authors in their work: (1) characterize the Uyghur people, (2) describe the concept of genocide and the act of committing this act, (3) analyze examples qualifying for the recognition of Chinese actions as genocide (4) try to show the reaction of the main international actors to the situation in Xinjiang. The thesis of the article claims that the PRC committed genocide against the Uighur people by: (1) killing members of this group; (2) causing serious bodily and psychological harm to members of the group; (3) performing deliberate actions aimed at physical destruction of all or part of this community; (4) imposing measures to prevent birth in a group; (5) forcible separation of children from parents. The resulting article is a presentation of Chinese activities that fulfill the features of the crime of genocide and provide an in-depth legal analysis of the Genocide Convention. The article conducts a political analysis based on available source material.

Report from a meeting with Stanislav Aseyev, Toruń, December 8, 2022

Отчет со встречи со Станиславом Осеевым, Торунь, 8 декабря 2022 г.

Другой взгляд на международные отношения

[рецензия книги International Public Relations and Public Diplomacy: Communication and Engagement]

A Russian Perspective on the Middle East

[book review Od Związku Radzieckiego do Federacji Rosyjskiej. Sto lat polityki zagranicznej wobec Bliskiego Wschodu]

Российский взгляд на Ближний Восток

[рецензия книги Od Związku Radzieckiego do Federacji Rosyjskiej. Sto lat polityki zagranicznej wobec Bliskiego Wschodu]

Necessity is the mother of sport

[book review Historia chińskiego sportu]

Необходимость – мать спорта

[рецензия книги Historia chińskiego sportu]

Overview of Polish literature of the 20th century

[recenzja książki Leszka Szarugi Przestrzenie literatury i okolice]

Обзор польской литературы 20 века

[recenzja książki Leszka Szarugi Przestrzenie literatury i okolice]